Getting technical support has been listed as one of the top 5 challenges small businesses face when they move to the cloud. Although Microsoft offers some assistance to Office 365 end users, the service does not fit this type of companies’ needs. Moreover, costs for a guaranteed, top-level support are high and only a few small businesses want to go that route.

CSP Direct and Indirect partners are not just reselling licenses; they have to offer a full customer experience that includes technical support. Guaranteeing the same level of support as Microsoft or better requires partners to know about:

• How to set up a first-class technical support service
• How to choose the right pricing model for your support services
• Hiring and training employees
• Managing customer satisfaction

As a VAR, MSP or SI, offering support service is a unique opportunity to improve customer loyalty, free referrals, plus cross-sell and upsell options. Being your customers’ first point of contact for either sales or support matters will keep you aware of your customer needs. As a result, you’ll be able to help them better adopt Office 365 services and come up with complementary solutions.